Koshien had already ended, but for the schools that had appeared at Koshien, the effects of that summer were far from over.
The Seido players had only been back for a short while when the Tokyo Autumn Tournament qualifiers in September were already looming. However, because Seido had competed at Koshien, they could skip the qualifiers and proceed directly to the Tokyo Autumn Tournament in October.
Even so, there was not much time left.
The one good thing was that the upperclassmen had not yet left. As long as the upperclassmen were still on the field, the members of the new team seemed to have something to lean on.
Almost every day, Seido's field was besieged by reporters and cameras. The third-years preparing for the National Sports Festival also drew a considerable share of the media's attention.
"Seriously, the field is as noisy as a supermarket every day. Kōshū really should stay away," Isashiki grumbled after once again failing to find the pitcher on the field.
Everyone still trusted Kōshū, but as for the rest...
"Hey, Sawamura Eijun! Don't go crowding over there!" Seeing that pitcher trying to approach the media again, the upperclassmen snapped. "How many innings did you even pitch at Koshien, you idiot?!"
Furuya was actually following behind him. When Eijun was dragged away by the upperclassmen, Furuya followed after him and started running laps alongside Eijun again.
"Hey, Furuya, did you take your medicine today?" Furuya had also suffered a mild case of heatstroke afterward and had been taking medicine these past few days.
"Yeah!"
"You should go to the Indoor Training Field today. Wait until the sun goes down before you run."
Only after the two first-years had gone their separate ways did the upperclassmen sigh. "This new team really makes us worry."
"Isn't there